Weekend Invitations
by PhoenixRising360
Summary: Gibbs couldn't understand why Tony would be here so early. He thought the man slept in on Saturday mornings when they didn't get a call-out. Just a long-ish little one-shot. Pre-slash.


Author Note: I wrote this story back in late September 2017 and promptly forgot about it. I found it on my hard drive yesterday, ran it by a friend who thought Tibbs lovers would like it so here it is. Enjoy!

WEEKEND INVITATIONS

Leroy Jethro Gibbs turned in disbelief toward the stairs as he looked at his watch. It was 9:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning as Tony DiNozzo's footsteps traversed his living room and reached his basement door. He had been sanding for the last hour and continued to sand even as Tony reached the bottom.

"Morning, Gibbs!" he announced cheerfully.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs said. He was happy to see him and his voice sounded mellow even to his own ears, but he couldn't understand why Tony would be here so early. He thought the man slept in on Saturday mornings when they didn't get a call-out.

"So, what are you up to on this fine day?"

Gibbs looked at him incredulously. "What does it look like I'm doing, DiNozzo?"

Tony grinned. "I can see you're sanding the boat, Gibbs. I meant, what else are you doing today?"

Gibbs shrugged and turned back to sanding.

Tony was quiet for a moment. "The reason I was asking is because I wanted to go to the Smithsonian and thought you might like to go with me."

Gibbs didn't stop sanding but he closed his eyes for a moment. He would love to go to the Smithsonian with Tony, but it'd be a unique torture. There had always been a good rapport between them, and he knew Tony liked him and he liked Tony, but over the years he had grown to really care about Tony a whole lot more than he should, and spending time with the man when he was fairly sure he wanted Ziva was depressing.

"Kinda busy here, DiNozzo."

"I can see that, but the boat will be here when you get back. Come on, Gibbs, it'll be fun," he cajoled. "They have a new exhibit all about Egypt, seems like it would be really interesting."

"Didn't know you were interested in Egypt," Gibbs said.

"Hello, huge perfectly geometric pyramids that have survived thousands of years? How can anyone not be interested? Come on, I'll even buy your ticket."

Gibbs snorted. "Sounds like something Abby would be interested in. You should ask her to go."

"Nah, you were the first person I thought of. Come on, Gibbs."

Gibbs kept sanding, but after a second he sighed. "Enjoy your pyramids, DiNozzo."

There was a silent pause after he said that before Tony said, "Okay, Boss. See you on Monday."

Gibbs winced as he heard Tony trudge up the stairs, and it was trudging. He heard the disappointment in his voice. Maybe he should've accepted. He did like the Smithsonian, but it was always so busy, and dealing with a noisy crowd on top of dealing with his feelings for Tony…no way.

He ended up getting a lot done that day. After lunch he mowed the lawn and trimmed the bushes in his yard. Then, he swept and mopped his kitchen floor and then vacuumed the rest of the house before taking a shower and settling down on the couch with a good book. He fell asleep while reading and didn't think again about Tony's invitation.

The team was called out very early on Monday morning for a case and spent the next two weeks running ragged and when the case was wrapped up, except for waiting on DNA confirmation, which they knew it would, Gibbs gave the team a long weekend. He was beyond exhausted on Thursday night and went to bed early without working on the boat. Friday morning after breakfast, he was at it again.

Tony showed up just as early and Gibbs got a sense of déjà vu.

"Hey, Gibbs!" Tony greeted him as he came down the stairs.

"Morning, Tony."

"Wow, you're in a good mood," Tony quipped. "You actually slept last night, didn't you?"

Gibbs smirked a little, straightened and cuffed Tony lightly in the back of the head. "There's coffee made if you want some."

"Already had some, but thanks," Tony said, smiling warmly. "You know, it's a beautiful day. It's going to be 75 degrees, that's the perfect day to be outside. Want to go to the National Mall with me to admire the monuments? Come on, Boss, I don't want to go alone but it's too nice to stay inside."

"Seriously, Tony? You get stood up or something?"

Tony stiffened. "No, just we've been really busy lately and I thought it would be fun."

"Since when are you a history buff anyway?"

"If you don't want to go, all you had to do was say so. Sorry to bother you, Boss." Tony turned and headed toward the stairs.

"DiN-Tony!" Gibbs called. When Tony stopped, he lowered his voice. "Thanks, but I don't want to go."

"Suit yourself," he said with a shrug and headed up the stairs.

Gibbs sighed and the words came unbidden to his mind, "I always do." He heard Tony leave and threw the sander down. Why did he act like that? He really had no call to do that. He was a bastard, but Tony was his friend. He head slapped himself, glad no one was there to see him do it and winced at the force he used. He shouldn't have made that crack about getting stood up. It was out of line. He wasn't going to apologize for it, but he wouldn't do it again. The sad thing was that he knew if he didn't have feelings for Tony, he would've accepted and went because it was just two friends, but it wasn't that simple.

With a sigh, he went back to sanding his boat.

The following Saturday, following a week they had no active case because most of them spent the week testifying in court, Gibbs was still sitting at the kitchen table reading the newspaper and drinking coffee when Tony burst in. He put his feet down on the floor and stood up in surprise as Tony rushed in wearing jeans, a Nationals t-shirt and sneakers.

"Gibbs! Guess what?!" Tony was grinning ear to ear.

"You got tickets to the Nationals game," Gibbs deadpanned.

"That was an incredible guess! You're an investigator, aren't you?" Tony quipped back. "One of my frat brothers couldn't use the tickets so he gave them to me. You like baseball, right? You wanna go?"

Gibbs sighed. He'd rather play baseball than watch it though his knee protested when he did. "Already got plans today, DiNozzo."

"Oh come on, you gotta be kidding! Don't tell me you're going to work on the boat again."

"Nope." He looked at his watch. "Gotta head out in an hour though."

"Can't you change it? I mean, it's not often I get free tickets to anything."

"Nope, can't change it," he said.

Tony visibly deflated. "Well, maybe I can convince McGeek to go with me. It'd be a new experience for him to actually do something that doesn't involve a computer."

Gibbs snorted in amusement at this and looked up at Tony as he smiled and Tony smiled back.

"You sure you don't want to go?" Tony asked hopefully. "Not too late."

"Thanks, Tony, but I really can't."

"Okay, have a good one, Boss. I'll think of you while I'm eating hot dogs and watching the best team in the MLB."

"You do that," Gibbs said with a grin. "Thanks for inviting me, Tony."

"Sure, Boss. I should get going. See you Monday."

"Uh huh."

Tony left and Gibbs shook his head fondly and wondered if Tony would convince McGee to go with him. He doubted it.

Gibbs did have plans that day, as he met up with an old friend who was in town for a long lunch, then braved the grocery store, and went home.

The weekend came and went the way it always did and Monday morning he bought coffee and a Caf-Pow and headed to the lab to visit Abby. When he walked in, he heard Abby, Tim and Tony talking and he ducked behind a pile of evidence boxes to listen.

"I give up, guys," Tony was saying. "That was the third time."

"He really turned down a Nationals game?" Abby said in disbelief. "He told me once he liked baseball!"

Gibbs' ears pricked up. They were talking about him.

"Well, he was nicer to me this time than he was last time," Tony said. "I'm just going to have to face the facts: he doesn't want to spend time with me outside of work. I guess I was wrong about what was between us."

"I don't believe it!" Tim said, incredulously. "You've always been his favorite. It doesn't make sense."

"I agree with Timmy," Abby added. "It really doesn't. He loves history, too. I was really surprised when he turned down the Smithsonian invitation. I mean, you even offered to pay!"

"I did," Tony said. "But nothing I tried worked. He just…isn't interested in me. Maybe he has a new redhead. He did say he had plans on Saturday. Maybe he was getting lucky." Tony sounded depressed as he spoke.

"Oh Tony," Abby said, all sympathy and comfort.

"Uh, can't breathe, Abs," Tony choked out, obviously being squeezed.

"Sorry," she said. "I just want to punch him right now. I know he thinks the world of you in his own grumpy, bastardy way, but to turn down three invitations for stuff we know he likes…that's odd."

"I told you, it was me. If he was going with a redhead or alone, he'd probably go."

Gibbs whispered a curse. _Tony wanted him? Why the hell didn't he just say so?_

_Why didn't you?_ The voice in his head shot back.

"What I don't understand," Tim said, "is that all along, it's obvious you two have this connection. I mean, you can share a look and know exactly what the other is thinking. Most married couples can't do that. I was positive he was in love with you. I mean, it makes a weird sort of sense. No one handles him better than you do and no one handles you better than he does."

"Yeah," Tony said. "And we have so much in common. I mean, history, sports…"

Tim snorted, smirked and shook his head. "I still can't believe you like history."

"Those who are ignorant of the past are doomed to repeat it, McGeek."

"You know, you might actually be a bigger geek than me."

Tony snorted, "I'm just the better-looking geek, that's all," Tony joked. "Ow! Abby! You didn't let me finish! I was going to say Tim is just the nicer geek."

"Nice save, Tony."

"That's gonna bruise."

"Good, then don't insult Timmy."

"I always insult Probie. It's what I do."

"Guys, we gotta get upstairs soon," Tim interrupted, choosing to ignore the teasing. "Just want to say I'm sorry, man. I was sure the plan would work, but we underestimated Gibbs…again."

"Thanks, Tim," Tony said with a sad sigh. "I thought it would work, too. I always thought how I felt about him was obvious but he either doesn't see it or doesn't want to see it."

Gibbs couldn't take any more. He stalked in, set Abby's Caf Pow down and sharply swatted Tony in the back of the head. Tony yelped in surprise and all three of them turned in surprise.

"Boss!" Tim gasped.

Abby's eyes were wide as saucers but Gibbs only had eyes for Tony. "Why the hell didn't you just tell me how you felt? Why didn't you tell me you wanted to date me? I thought you just invited me because you couldn't get anyone else to go with you."

Tony looked shocked. "No! I asked you because I wanted you to go with me! I wanted to spend time with you. You just didn't want to spend time with me!"

"Oh damn, Tony!" Gibbs ran his hands down his face in exasperation. "I wanted to spend time with you but you've talked about nothing but women, were in love with that Benoit woman, I thought you just looked up to me as a mentor."

Tony's eyes got wide. "You've been a great mentor, Boss, but it always felt like more than that, since the day we met. I thought you knew!"

"So I'm an idiot." Gibbs shook his head.

Tony grinned. "Uh well, I wouldn't say that," Tony hedged.

"You were an idiot, Gibbs," Abby said it for him. He turned and glared but she just smiled. "We love you anyway though."

Gibbs allowed the smirk to show before he turned back to Tony. "Is it too late for the Egyptian exhibit at the Smithsonian?"

Tony grinned. "I'm not sure, but I'll call and find out."

Gibbs smiled. "You can still buy the tickets. I'll buy lunch."

"You got it! Saturday?"

"Yeah."

"Awww, that was so sweet," Abby wiped at her eyes as she watched the scene play out.

Tim was grinning. "I knew it!"

Gibbs stepped into Tim's personal space. "And what is it exactly do you think you know?"

"I…I knew you cared about Tony, Boss," Tim said as he straightened, looking Gibbs in the eye and held it.

Gibbs half-smirked for a second before he turned stern again. "This…no one else can know. No one!"

"You got it, Boss." Tim said with a nod.

Gibbs turned and looked at Abby who made a zipping motion of her lips. "DiNozzo, with me. McGee, get back to work. Take the stairs."

Gibbs and Tony went to the elevator and when it started moving, Gibbs hit the emergency stop. Tony's eyes went wide for a moment but when Gibbs stepped into his personal space, he smiled.

"I'm a bastard, Tony."

He smiled softly. "I know."

"You can do better."

"Nope. You're the best."

Gibbs sighed. "No one else can know about this…except maybe Ducky."

"What about Ziva?"

Gibbs sighed. "I know things are still off with her after what she went through in Somalia, and I know things are a little off between you two, too. We'll tell her when we're ready for her to know. You and me…that stays out of work. You okay with that?"

Tony nodded emphatically. "Prefer it that way."

Gibbs smiled, glad they were in sync on this. He watched Tony for a moment. "How long?"

"Baltimore."

Gibbs made a sound in his throat that not even he could identify, then he chuckled. "We really are idiots."

"How long for you?" Tony asked.

"Baltimore."

Tony sighed thoughtfully. "I don't think I was ready back then…not for a real relationship. Not with a man."

"Yeah. Me neither. Was lust back then."

"Really? You were lusting for me?"

Gibbs frowned. "How anyone can look at you and not lust for you is an idiot."

Tony looked surprised, then grinned. "Thanks."

Gibbs lifted his hand to Tony's face and froze before he could touch and dropped his hand. "I…can't touch you right now. If I do…" He trailed off. "Back to work."

"Wait!" Tony said just as Gibbs' hand reached the emergency stop button to release it. Gibbs looked at Tony. "Would you…like to have dinner with me tonight? My place?"

"Yes."

Tony smiled at the quick response. "Okay, great. Uh…1900 hours?"

Gibbs nodded.

Tony smiled brightly. "Okay, now let's get back to work."

Gibbs grinned as he flipped the switch and their gaze held until the elevator door opened. Maybe they were idiots, maybe not. They could only move forward from here.


End file.
